Sales leaders are often at the centre of hiring decisions for go-to-market (GTM) teams.

From building out sales teams to shaping the wider GTM organisation, they play a major role in defining what “great talent” looks like. Their experience in revenue-generating roles gives them valuable insight into the skills and behaviours needed to succeed.

However, even experienced sales leaders can run into challenges when it comes to hiring.

In fast-growing SaaS companies especially, hiring GTM talent is rarely straightforward. Role definitions are evolving, talent markets are competitive, and the skills required at different stages of growth can vary dramatically.

Internal recruiters frequently see the same hiring pitfalls appear across organisations. Here are some of the most common things sales leaders get wrong when hiring GTM talent – and how avoiding them can lead to stronger teams.

Looking for a “Perfect Background”

One of the most common hiring mistakes is over-indexing on very specific backgrounds.

Sales leaders sometimes look for candidates who have worked at:

• The same type of company

• The same industry vertical

• A direct competitor

• A company at an identical stage of growth

While relevant experience can certainly be valuable, this approach can significantly narrow the talent pool.

In many cases, candidates with transferable skills and strong learning agility can outperform those with identical backgrounds. Focusing too narrowly on company logos or industry experience may mean missing out on high-potential hires.

Confusing Activity with Impact

In sales environments, metrics and activity are often highly visible.

When evaluating candidates, sales leaders sometimes focus heavily on numbers such as:

• Number of calls made

• Pipeline generated

• Quota attainment percentages

While these metrics are important, they don’t always tell the full story.

For example, a candidate might have impressive activity metrics but have worked within a highly structured organisation with strong inbound demand. Another candidate may have built pipeline from scratch in a more challenging environment.

Understanding context is critical when evaluating sales performance.

Overemphasising Cultural Similarity

“Culture fit” often appears in hiring discussions, but it can sometimes become a proxy for hiring people who feel familiar.

Sales leaders may gravitate towards candidates who:

• Share similar backgrounds

• Communicate in similar styles

• Have worked in similar environments

While team alignment matters, overemphasising similarity can lead to teams that lack diversity of thought and experience.

Strong GTM teams often benefit from different perspectives, especially when selling into varied customer segments or new markets.

Unrealistic Expectations for Early Hires

In startups and scaleups, the first GTM hires are often expected to do a lot.

Sales leaders may hope to find candidates who can simultaneously:

• Build pipeline from scratch

• Close complex deals

• Develop sales processes

• Provide market feedback

• Mentor future hires

While some candidates can operate across multiple areas, expecting one person to excel at everything can make hiring much harder.

Being clear about which outcomes matter most in the role helps recruiters identify candidates who are truly well suited.

Underestimating the Importance of Interview Structure

Sales leaders are often confident interviewers – after all, evaluating people is part of sales itself.

However, unstructured interviews can introduce bias and make it harder to compare candidates effectively.

Common issues include:

• Repeating similar questions across interview stages

• Interviewers evaluating different skills without alignment

• Feedback that is subjective rather than evidence-based

Internal recruiters often help address this by designing structured interview processes, with clear scorecards and evaluation criteria.

When interviews are more structured, hiring decisions tend to be stronger and more consistent.

Moving Too Slowly in Competitive Markets

High-performing GTM candidates are often in multiple hiring processes at once.

Even when a candidate is clearly strong, companies sometimes lose them due to slow decision-making. This can happen when:

• Interview stages take too long to schedule

• Feedback cycles are delayed

• Hiring managers want to “see a few more candidates”

While thorough evaluation is important, speed matters in competitive hiring markets.

Working closely with internal recruiters to create efficient, well-paced hiring processes can significantly improve offer acceptance rates.

Not Leveraging Recruiter Market Insight

Internal recruiters spend every day speaking with candidates, gathering market feedback, and understanding hiring trends.

However, their insights are sometimes underutilised.

Recruiters can often provide valuable perspectives on:

• What great candidates currently expect from employers

• How compensation benchmarks are evolving

• Which types of profiles are most in demand

• Why candidates are accepting or declining offers

When sales leaders treat recruiters as strategic hiring partners, rather than simply candidate sources, the quality of hiring decisions tends to improve.

Building Stronger GTM Teams

Hiring great GTM talent is one of the most important investments a company can make.

Sales leaders play a critical role in shaping these teams – but the most effective hiring outcomes usually come from close collaboration between sales leadership and internal recruiters.

When expectations are clear, interview processes are structured, and market insights are shared openly, companies are far more likely to build high-performing go-to-market teams.

At The Launch Collective, conversations between recruiters and GTM leaders help surface these lessons and improve hiring practices across the community.

Because great GTM teams rarely happen by accident – they’re built through thoughtful, collaborative hiring.